Pirates Stifle FAU From Three, Securing Win in Charleston Classic Third-Place Game - Seton Hall University Athletics
In a game that came down to the wire, the Seton Hall men's basketball team claimed victory over Florida Atlantic, 63-61.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — In a game that came down to the wire, the Seton Hall men's basketball team claimed victory over Florida Atlantic, 63-61, in their final game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in TD Arena.
Scotty Middleton had a massive 10 points in the first half (4-of-4 from the field, 2-of-2 from three) for the Pirates (4-3), while Chaunce Jenkins led the Pirates in scoring for the fifth time this season. The Owls (4-4) had their worst shooting day from beyond the arc this season (4-of-28, 14.2%), while Pirates had one of their best days (45.5%).
How It Happened
While the Pirates struggled to find their footing in the opening minutes offensively against the Owls, the Pirates' sturdy defense helped the team find their way into the game. After a pair of threes from The Hall, they trailed by a slim 7-6 margin with 15:03 remaining in the half. Both teams would quickly enter into a defensive battle, with both schools failing to find a bucket for over two minutes.
As the clock ticked under 13 minutes remaining in the half, the Pirates found a spark off the bench with freshman Jasheem Felton. Immediately after entering the game, Felton would find a layup and Scotty Middleton would net his second three of the night to put the Pirates up 11-7 with 12:01 remaining in the half. The Pirates remained hot, going on a 13-5 run and extending their lead to 22-12 with 7:24 left in the half.
FAU responded in kind with a 9-5 run powered by Leland Walker and Matas Vokietaitis to cut the Pirates lead to 27-21 with 3:50 remaining in the half. Over the remaining time, the Pirates would lock down the Owls offense, save a singular converted foul shot by Baba Miller. Chaunce Jenkins would cap the Pirates' best offensive half of the season by converting a layup with seven seconds remaining in the half, sending the Pirates to the half up 34-22.
Coming out of halftime, the Owls tried to claw back into the game. They would cut the Pirates' lead to 39-30 with 16:18 remaining in a run that culminated with two buckets from Baba Miller. Jenkins and the Pirates, however, would quickly stamp out FAU's momentum and go up 44-33, extending The Hall's lead back to 11 points with 14:05 remaining in the game.
For the next five minutes Pirates held serve with the Owls, but could not manage to comfortably pull away from the AAC foe as the score sat at 51-38 with nine minutes left. With the door left open, FAU went on a 15-7 run to reduce the Pirates lead to five, trailing 58-53 with 4:03 remaining.
Straight away, Isaiah Coleman took over on offense, netting a jumper and putting up a layup that would turn into a Yacine Toumi putback with 2:12 remaining in the game. After both teams stifled each other's offense, FAU's Kyky Tandy cut the Pirates lead to one with 25 seconds left on the clock.
With the Pirates' margin for error narrowing, Prince Aligbe was sent to the free throw line to shoot a one-and-one. After converting the front end, Aligbe would miss the second shot and the Owls would push up the floor with 16 seconds remaining. In the biggest moment of the game, the defense stepped up, forcing FAU's Leland Walker into a bad shot and securing the 63-61 victory.
News & Notes
- This was the first-ever meeting between these two programs.
- Seton Hall is now 6-3 all-time at the Charleston Classic.
- With the win, the third-place finish at the Charleston Classic is the Pirates' best finish at an MTE since winning the 2018-19 Wooden Legacy
- The Hall has held seven of their eight opponents below 38% from the field.
- The Pirates' bench outscored the Owls' bench 31-15.
- Seton Hall had five blocks to zero for FAU.
- Scotty Middleton recorded a season-high 10 points, all in the first half.
- With 15 points tonight, Chaunce Jenkinsrecorded his fifth game as the Pirates leading scorer.
- This was also Jenkins' 55th career game with double-digit points.
The Pirates will return to New Jersey to face Monmouth at the Prudential Center on Saturday, November 30, at 12:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS2.
